


Cool Down Strategy

by SomePiece



Category: One Piece
Genre: 2nd person POV, Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Heatwave, Summer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:15:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28759428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomePiece/pseuds/SomePiece
Summary: You are not able to do anything on hot summer days; not the pirate duties, not anything fun, just melting on the floor. And Shanks is just trying to help.
Relationships: Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks/Original Female Character(s), Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks/Reader, Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks/You
Kudos: 20





	Cool Down Strategy

Everything burnt. **  
**

Your eyes from being exposed to the severe sun. Your lungs from breathing the fiery air. Your skin from being tortured with summer rays, with the salt of the sea and your own sweat and with everything that you touched and that kept sticking to your tired and tormented body. You barely had any power left to whine and change sides, when the one touching the sheets was demanding a freedom with needling itch. 

Freaking heatwave!

It was like this since you could remember. You couldn’t stand even moderate warmth, the one that people from your native island barely paid attention to, some of them still wearing long sleeves. As soon as the certain temperature was crossed, it was over for you and you were doing everything to not expose yourself to the mercy of the Sun. Luckily, the climate you were born into wasn’t cruel and days that would disqualify you from life weren’t plenty. The Grandline, however, was a completely different story. 

You loved your boyfriend, you loved your crew and you loved travelling with them, no matter how uncomfortable or dangerous your sail could be. But the weird conditions you stumbled upon everyday knew no mercy. You dealt fine with frosts and blizzards, with hurricanes and monsoons, with foggy days and with rainy days. You were tough, as expected from Yonko’s partner. But as soon as your ship sailed near a summer island… It was over. Shanks was doing his best to avoid such places; together with the navigator he carefully planned the course to circumvent climate too harsh for you to bear. But as much as he loved you, Shanks was only a human - and sometimes nothing could be helped.

Like now, when to avoid contact with the Navy fleet, you had to change the course and you came upon a desert island. And, what’s worse, you needed full two weeks for the log pose to reset. 

Which was in your dictionary known as: _almost dead, boiling alive in Shanks’ cabin; do not disturb, won’t answer you anyway, leave some ice, thank you very much._

Speaking of ice - you really needed a drink. Fighting against the heat and gravity, you somehow switched from laying down to sitting. The world spinned around you; you definitely were dehydrated and weakened from skipping way too many meals. _Maybe it’s time to finally show up in the kitchen_ , you thought. You didn’t want to worry anyone, especially when they all were so kind and supportive with you. The crew, you had to admit it: a true bunch of wild party animals, made everything they could to make this hard time easy for you and moved their shenanigans away from your shelter. If you decided to leave it by any chance, you could be sure there would be plenty of shaded place left for you. Someone was bringing you fresh and ice cold water every few hours. Someone was making sure there was enough water in the pumps, in case you needed a refreshing shower. Someone was guarding the fridge with a supply of ice cream and cool snacks. Someone even made an extra effort and brought you sunscreen - and you knew the closest settlements were hours away from the place the ship had docked. You were lowkey sure that certain someone was Shanks, but if asked, he was just smiling mysteriously and changing the topic. You didn’t have power left for a proper investigation, so the case remained secret. _At least for now_ , you decided as your hand finally made its way towards the jug that was supposed to be full of water. But all you found was disappointing emptiness.

Just perfect. **  
**

“Shanks,” you whined in the Den Den Mushi. It was left in the cabin in case of emergency. The lack of water definitely was one. You honestly didn’t know if you were going to boil alive or die because of a dry and burning throat. “Honey. Can you bring some more water? Please?”

You could hear party sounds in the background. If you recalled right, Shanks mentioned something about barbecue. Indeed, the lagoon you chose as your hideout was perfect for dropping outdoor parties. A sting of guilt immediately jabbed you, “But only if you’re not busy, okay? I can bring myself so-”

“I’m not busy.” He didn’t let you end. Snail’s little face brightened and eased - Shanks reassured you with a smile. “Just get me few minutes, need to get back on the ship.”

“Honey, you really don’t have to-”

“I want to. Do you want some ice cream with your water?”

And it was like this since you entered the heat zone. It was so lovely of him to take care of you - but something wasn’t right and even your boiled mind had enough of self-preservation to be lowkey suspicious. You knew your boyfriend too well. Being super protective, caring and gentle wasn’t really his nature. Of course, he wasn’t mean or cruel - but the nonsense call was strong in him and he’d never miss an opportunity to drop some antics. He was way _too_ gentle and _too_ calm for his usual demeanor. Something was coming. But as much as you were able to suspect something, it was way too hot to be worried about it.

It didn’t take long for Shanks to appear, with a jug of fresh water in the hand and a huge bucket of ice cream under his armpit. Of course, the hot weather didn’t affect him at slightest. He was as fresh and happy as ever, a personification of beaming happiness, only his face a little bit more red than you expected - hard to tell if from excess of sake or because of the cruel sun. **  
**

“How is my princess feeling?” He asked and sat on the edge of bed. You snatched the jug from him and emptied a good half with few, thirsty gulps. 

“Shitty,” you whined. “It’s burning hot, I’m sticky and weak.”

You took another, calmer gulp - and realised the water tasted a bit different than usual. It wasn’t water you stored on the ship, which tasted salty and metallic because of containers it was poured in. It wasn’t water from a spring either, those tended to taste a bit muddy. If you were to compare it to something, it was pretty close to bottled water you could get in a shop. But which pirate would lose money (or energy) for bottled water, if free one could be easily found?

“That’s good water, where did you get it from?” You decided to risk a little investigation. You felt a bit better and suspicions towards Shanks appeared anew. 

“Dunno what do you mean, it’s normal water.” He shrugged it off and moved closer. He smelled of sake, warm sand and salt; his arm - carefully wrapped around your waist - was beaming warmth. Shanks’ fingers wandered along your side, fast to find your ticklish points.

“Hey, stop it!” You wriggled out of his embrace. “It’s too hot!”

“I just couldn’t help myself.” There was something in Shanks’ laughter that resembled the calm humm of the sea, as opposed to his naughty intentions. As now he was close to you, you could see playful sparks in his eyes. And you didn’t like it.

“You’re up to something.” You jabbed his chest with your index finger. “I don’t know what yet, but I know you are!”

“Just brought you some ice cream to cool you down.” You didn’t like his smile. Oh, you didn’t like it at all. **  
**

He opened the bucket, but instead of ice cream there was… Snow. You yelped in surprise, but before you could say anything, Shanks grabbed a handful of it and threw on your cleavage.

“Shanks, no!” Shrieking and laughing, you tried to shake it off, but another portion of snow landed on you, this time on the back of your neck. Handful after handful, Shanks was throwing the white powder at you, everywhere he could reach and everywhere you couldn’t cover. It was everywhere - in your hair, on your clothes, under your clothes, on your face, on the bed, on Shanks too, when you eventually kicked the bucket and the remains ended on his pants.

“Oh, you little-” He growled playfully and jumped on you, rubbing the melting snow into your skin. Squirming in protest and fighting with your laughter for a breath, you tried to push him away or get it in his eyes. He somehow pinned both of your hands away from him; now you were completely at his mercy. But instead of tormenting you anymore, he claimed your lips his in a sweet yet passionate kiss. 

“Missed you, you know?” **  
**

“Couldn’t you like, kiss me without all of this?” You pushed him away and threw the empty bucket at him. “I’m all wet now! Where did you even get the snow?”

“There are quite high mountains on this island.” Shanks stripped from his wet shirt and threw it on the floor. “We get snow and ice to cool down beer. And well, we got fresh water too.”

“Normal water my ass.” You smacked him, but you weren’t really angry. A little banter and kiss made you feel much better. And well, the snow _did_ help, you already felt much more lively. “I think we need a shower. Both of us.” 

Shanks didn’t need to be told twice; as soon as the word “shower” was spoken, you were already thrown over his shoulder and taken towards the bathroom.

“Hey, slow down, you perv!” Your protests were muffled by another kiss.

“I finally have you alive for a moment.” Shanks was peppering your face with kisses between words. “And I am not losing any second of it. Come, we have plenty of time to catch up with.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! If you liked it, I'll really appreciate, if you leave a kudo and/or a comment (*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡
> 
> This was written for a request on my writing tumblr some-piece. I encourage you to visit it, since I'm far more active there. And from time to time I am open for requests ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


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